Sanitary telephone attachment.



G. W. DOWNS.

SANITARY TELEXJHONE ATTACHMENT.

APPLIGATION FILED OCT. 31. 1912.

1,066,388, Patented July 1, 1912.

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13V/ Y l 'entrara eraralsirn.,

orariein` ORGE XVSHING'ON DOWNS, 0F NEHY YORK. N. Y.

SA'NTLRY TELEPHONE TTACHMENT.

aoeaaesi Specification of Letters Patent.

llatentetl July 1, 1913.

ppiicaion filed October 3l, mi2. Serial No, 128,834,

theifollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to telephony and.

has particular reference to means for safeguarding a user of an ordinary telephone from infection or'disease which is likely to be transmitted to his lips by 'contactwith a public telephone mouthpiece. I

Among the objects'of the invention is to provide an attachment of the character set forth which may be of a simple and cheap nature and hence may be easily lapplied to the ordinary form of telephone mouthpiece and used by any individual or in the case of a public telephone such attachment may be carried in ones pocket and easily applied and 'removed after being used, either to be discarded or returned to the pocket for subsequent use.

A further object of the invention is to improve this sort of devices in such a Way as to render them cheaper and therefore more readily accessible for use as required and also to provide a device which may be more reliable in its cooperation With the mouthpiece.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will hereinafter be more fully de-v scribed and claimed and illust-rated in the drawings accompanying this specification in which like characters of reference xindicate corresponding parts in all the viewsQnand-inf which Figure l represents a face View of one 'form of this invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view .of the same applied 'to 'a telephone; Fig. 3 is a face View of a' blank for the formation of a modification of the' invention; Fig. 4 is a` face View of such lmodification complete; Fig. 5 is an ed e view of the same looking toward the rig t in Fig. 4; Fig. G is a further modification embodying the same principles Vas the other forms; Fig. 7 is a vertical Seetiona View on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6'; and' Figsv 8 and 9 are front and edge views respectively of a still further modification. o Referring more .particularly to the drawings' it is to be noted that in all forms of Vthis invention the attachment is designed to be made of a single strip of any suitable sheet material and so slitted,'stamp'ed or formed to provide a substantially stiff or rigid body portion of any suitable form oie-size, a tongue free and preferably rounded at one' end and connected at its other end to the body, and a hanger adjacent the tongue and includingv a pair of comparatively .narrow and lhence flexible straps through which the hanger `is connected to the body, all of said parts vbeing integral i when tlie'attachment is made orf a single, strip of material.

The material may be cardboard, paper, Celluloid or any other suitable `fibrous or .plastic material. The attachment, therefore, .i

may be produced in large' quantities'Lvery i cheaply, or if it is to be made of in, more permanent nature the material maybe accordingly more expensive. The primary db` .ject, however, inthis regard is to produce them so cheaply as to bring them Within the use of every telephone user .or operator.

It is to be noted furthermore that the ab, tachment may be offsuhV a nature Las-*to render it anexcel'lent medium for advertising purposes, the advertisement to rbe printed or otherwise .arranged upon the face thereof Where it may be conspicuous `when "the person is about Vto, use 1the telephone.

Referrin more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, 'it will be noted that the strip of mater'1al comprises a' pendant body portion 10 and so slitted at 1'1 as to provide anopenring, the upper portion ofwhch is preferably circular azndfof subh a' size as 'to .receive shown as Substantially rectangular in form That portibn of the .strip of materialsurrounding the opening 11` constitutes` what maybe termed a hanger 12fyvhich lin'- cludes a vpair of straps .13 whereby the hanger is connected to or made integral with the body portion 10. The straps 11i-being comparatively narrow, they will be 'relatively flexible, makingv it easy for'the zhanger to be pressed back at its .top for engagement.

45 of the blank there is formedan opening 11.

-for the reception of the mouthpiece as bewith t-he upper edge or lip o. of the mouthpiece. It is to be noted furthern'iore that the hanger is continuons from one strap to the other whereby it is sufficiently strong for its purposevand woll adapted for supporting the attachment iii .place upon the mouthpiece. *This .de\j`ice :ilso includes :in upwardly |ii'oject-i'ng tongue 14 formed siviniiltan e'ougiilyvith the cutting o f the slit.

forming the Y opening 11 above l described'. The b ase of thetongue opposite its rounded free end l16 -is therefore.,integral with the upper portion of the body 10 whenthe device is made from a single strip of material.- The invention inV this form, therefore, may be made very chea-ply 'and' put out as attractive souvenirs. It is possible, therefore, to supply any suitable number of them foiv anyV telephone which is used repeatedly by the public or different individuals. A person about to use the` telephone may take one of these cards or devices and Aapply it to the-telephone mouthpiece in the mannerset forth, the position thereof being such that the tongue v14 will substantiallycover or guard the usually exposed edge or lip of-the mouthpiece, keeping the same vfrom contaminating the person or user of the telephone.

I have found by a series of experiments of considerable extent that the tongue of such an attachment mayl be of comparatively thick or stiff nat-ure without materially afu :,fecting the acoustic properties of the instrument, especially when ones mouth is placed directlyv infront thereof. If desired, how-A ever, the tongue 14 may be provided with a series of perforations which will more freely vtransmit the soundvibrations of the voice, and yet willnot detract from the sanitary nature 'of the attachment. Y

1 igs. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate a slightly modified form of the invention in which the strip of,material is preferably a little longer than that previously described and in the cuttingr Afore, and this opening is surrounded by a' hanger 12 having the'same character of straps 13 as before described. The tongue 14', however, formed b clowthe opening .11"by slits 17, and the portions of the blank adjacent the slits 17 may be shortened in any suitable manner', hence, as shown, are folded, each twice upon itself substantially on thel lines 18 and 19, the parts 20 being folded upon the outer face of the portions 21 to which the lower ends of the ,straps are connected. The body portion 10 'is bent downwardly on the line 19 and upcn the original rear faces of the parts 20. By virtue of the slits 17, however,`tlie tongue 14 will remain in its original position with respect to the body 10' and will occupy a place directly over the opening 11' and preferably such tongue should be slightly longer than said opening 'so as to more thoroughly guard or protect the mouthpiece from c ontaii'iinating, tendencies. l'lhc parts folded as described and shown in Fig. 5 mayr? be loose or positively secured in permanent position. As in the other form ofthe invention, however, the tongue will still be ofi-'av single thickness of material andthe-sameis true also of the hanger which should be made of a comparatively flexible natu'refor easy cooperation with the mouthpiece. Y

' Figs. 6 and 7 show another form of the invent-ion made from a single blank and so stamped as to provide an opening 11=and hanger A12 having characteristics identical with those already described. The body portion 10 in this form ofthe invention is produced by bending a portion of Athe strip\ l upon itself along the line 18', such lower portion when bentiip constituting the tongue 111 and conforming to the aforesaid opening 11". The two partsof the body thus foi-med may be. gummed together, making a relatively rigid body but leaving the tongue and hanger portions each of sin.- gle thickness and comparatively thinand flexible as in the other forms.

' .In the form of the invention shown'ini' Figs 8 and 9, each sideV edge o f vthev device is provided with an inwardly projecting transverse slot 22 into ort-hroiigh which the. folded end 18 of the strapis'projected for i'io stilfrpendant body portion, an upwardlyv projecting tongue integral at one end with Ythe body portion, and a continuous supporting hanger adjacent the tongue, said hanger including a.- pair of v`flexiblestraps adjacent the base of the ltongue and formediiitegral with the body portion, substantially as set" forth.

2. The herein described sanitary telephone attachment comprising a single-.strip of cheap sheet material so formed' as toi provide and include a relatively stiff body portion, the strip adjacent the body portion being provided with an opening to receive the telephone mouthpiece, thestrip surrounding the openingr being continuous and constituting a hanger. including a pair of mhm Straps cmmecled t9 this body partvn, i ami am npwnrdy projecting' tongue com forming im mid opening and adaiyed tn guard ihn mouihpeve Cambrai/'9d j); whe hunger, Halal straps buing shorten tu musa 13m hangmto exend downward in the t-m' of the upper free end of' [ha tongxm,

In tesnmny whereof have signed my name to this specicaton in the presence of two :subbcrbng witnesses.

GEORGE WASHINGTON DOWNS.

fitnesses G30. L. Brsmm, Plump I). ROLLHAUS. 

